Blade injection type razor



July 14, 1964 B. J. CRAIG 3,140,541

BLADE INJECTION TYPE RAZOR Filed Aug. 16 1962 azftw INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,140,541 BLADE INJECTION TYPE RAZCR Burnie J.Craig, 1042 La Presa Drive, Pasadena, Calif. Filed Aug. 16, 1962, Ser.No. 217,498 3 Claims. (Ci. 30-62) This invention relates to safetyrazors and particularly to safety razors of the type in which new bladesare adapted to be fed into the head of the razor from a blade-filledmagazine.

The general object of the invention is to provide an injection typerazor which is easy to manufacture, is simple in construction and ishighly efficient in use.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel one-pieceinjection razor.

Another object of the invention is to provide an injector razor whereinthe blade is held onto its seat by the inherent resiliency of thematerial from which the razor is constructed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a razor which can be madeby molding or casting and wherein the blade seat has a groove into whicha portion of the clamping member extends when the razor is made.

Another object of the invention is to provide a razor having a novelblade seat.

A further object of the invention is to provide a razor including amultiple cam means for moving the blade clamping member.

Another object of the invention is to provide a razor made of resilientmaterial and wherein the blade seat and associated parts are reinforcedin a novel manner.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a razor whichincludes a blade seat and a blade clamping member and wherein inoperation the clamping member may be operated to release its clampingeifect and wherein the blade is thereafter loosely held to preventaccidental displacement of the blade.

Another object of the invention is to provide a safety razor which hasan anatomically correct handle thereon.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a razor embodying the features of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 with a razor blade in operativeposition;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 with the blade clamping member inforward blade releasing position;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the razor;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the clamping member;

FIG. 6 is a section taken on line 6-6, FIG. 5;

FIGv 7 is a section taken on line 7-7, FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a section taken on line 38, FIG. 3 with the blade injectorinsert;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view showing the razor held in the usual manner;

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9 showing an anatomically correctmanner of holding the razor;

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing a modification, and

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the razor blade showing the blade holdingmembers.

Referring to the drawing by reference characters the invention is shownas embodied in a razor which is indicated generally at R. As shown therazor includes a blade clamping member A and a blade seat member B whichare shown as integrally united by a neck C which is shown integral witha handle D. The parts A and B comprise a shaving head.

The clamping member A includes a back plate 10 3,146,541 Patented July14, 1964 from which, at substantially a right angle, a blade clampingflange 11 extends. The lower forward edge of the lower surface of theflange 11 constitutes a blade clamping tip 12 which is adapted to engagea razor blade, to be later described.

From the clamping tip 12 the flange 11 is inclined upwardly as at 13 toa shoulder 14 from which a planar blade engaging portion 15 extends tothe inner face 16 of the back plate 10. The inner face 16 is preferablyplanar.

The blade seat member B has a blade receiving seat 17 on its uppersurface and has a depending cam plate 18 which is substantially parallelto the back plate 10 is integrally connected to the back plate byportion 19 located at the neck portion C.

The sides of the back plate 10 and the cam plate 18 both convergeuniformly downwardly, as shown at 19' in FIG. 4, until they merge withthe neck portion C above the handle D.

The seat 17 is planar and underlies the blade clamping flange 11.Intermediate the seat 17 and extending thereacross there is a generallyV-shaped transversely extending notch or groove 26) in the seat intowhich the clamping tip 12 preferably extends slightly so that the tip isbelow the plane of the blade seat when there is no blade in the razor,as shown in FIG. 1.

The blade platform B terminates along its front edge 21 in an arcuatedownwardly directed guard 22 for the cutting edge 23 of a blade 24arranged upon the seat 17. Near its forward edge the seat 17 is providedwith clearance openings 25.

The guard 22 is transversely ribbed as at 22 and the top 22" of theribbed portion is disposed slightly below the cutting edge 23 of theblade as shown in FIG. 6.

The cutting edge 23 of the blade is beveled at each end as at 26. Thesebevels 26 are engaged by small upstanding lugs or stop members 27 whichare arranged at each edge of the seat 17 and extend above the seat. Thelugs 27 are each beveled downwardly and inwardly and serve to center ablade being inserted into the razor and to allow a used blade to bereadily pushed from the razor.

The rear edge of the blade is engaged by a small centrally disposed boss28 which extends below the shoulder 14 of the clamping member. This bossprojects in front of the face 16 of the back plate and pushes the blade24 forwardly into engagement with the lugs 27.

The rear face 29 0f the cam plate is spaced from the face 16 of the backplate 10 to provide a slot 30 to receive a key or finger 31 on aninjector blade magazine 32. The bottom of the slot terminates in ashoulder 30 which is rounded to engage the key or finger 31 which is ofsutlicient width, as shown in FIG. 3, to perform the required functions.The rear face of the cam plate 18 is preferably longitudinally arcuateand at one location is provided with a transversely extending leadingcam face 34 and a trailing cam face 35 which is aligned with the camface 34. The cam faces 34 and 35 are grooved.

The injector finger 31 is provided with a leading cam lug 36 and atrailing cam lug 37. In front of the cam face 35 the cam plate 18 is agroove 38 which is straight. Between the cam faces 34 and 35 the plate18 is also a groove 39 which is straight. The grooves 33 and 39 may beslightly inclined relative to the face 16 of the back plate 10 toprovide for a mold draw. The distance between the face 16 of the backplate 10 and the face 39 of the cam plate 13 is slightly greater thanthe height of the cam lug 36 so that the cam lug 36 when the injector isfirst inserted will pass over groove 38, the cam face 34 and the groove39 before it engages the cam face 35. The groove 38 flares as at 38' atits entrance to facilitate centering the finger 31. The cam faces 34 aand 35 are stepped in height. The cam lugs 36 and 37 are also stepped inheight to match the cam faces 34 and 35. The cam faces 34 and 35 aredisposed on opposite sides of the central longitudinal axis of the razorand the cam lugs 36 and 37 are similarly disposed.

The groove 38 in advance of the cam face 34 and the face 16 of the plateat this location are parallel and are spaced apart slightly greater thanthe height of the cam lug 37.

The construction is such that when the blade magazine finger 31 isinserted the lug 36 will engage the cam face 35 at the same time thatthe cam lug 37 engages the cam face 34. This assures that the cam plate18 due to its spaced cam engagement with the injector key lugs will moveforward without any undue twisting action.

The notch in the blade platform permits the parts to be made so that inrelaxed position as in FIG. 1 and with no blade on the seat the clampingtip 12 will extend slightly below the plane of the seat 17 and into thenotch 20.

When the blade seat and the clamping member have been moved apart by theinjector, the tip 12 will be disposed slightly above the plane of theblade seat so that a new blade may be inserted.

When the blade is inserted and the injector is withdrawn the closingmovement of the seat and clamping member caused by their resiliency willcause the tip 12 to engage the blade and hold the latter firmly inplace. The blade is sufficiently stifi so that the pressure of the tip12 will not cup the blade into the groove 20.

The space S between the surface of the notch 20 and the clamping portion12 permits part of a mold forming member to enter the space S for themolding operation.

The lower face of the blade seat member B is provided with end andintermediate ribs or reinforcing members 17' which extend downwardlyfrom the platform as shown in FIG. 1 and in the other figures of thedrawing.

The blade seat 17, due to the shape of the cam plate 18, has the neededresiliency to permit it to be moved by the injector cams to bladechanging position and then has the required resiliency to cause it tospring back to blade holding position. The clamping member back plate 10is sufficiently thick and is shaped so that it has but a slightresilient action when the blade seat member B 18 moved.

The razor is preferably formed of a material which will Withstand Waterand the maximum temperature to which a razor may be exposed duringnormal and reasonable use. By using material having appropriateproperties, the vibration of the blade during use is reduced orsubstantially eliminated. A further advantage of the constructiondescribed and illustrated is that the blade is seated over a larger areaand that the surface of the blade is tightly engaged over this area tothus reduce vibration of the blade during use.

The razor may be made of plastic by molding or casting or by othermethods presently known in the industry. The material from which therazor is made may be any of a number of materials which have therequired properties. Among the materials found suitable are nylon,Celcon, Delrin, Teflon, Plexiglas and others. The razor also may be madefrom metal by die casting.

The sides of the handle D as shown at 40 are concave about long radii.The razor is provided with spaced fingers engaging areas shown asindentations 41 and 42. The indentations have closed sides so that thefingers will not slip and the indentations are disposed in spacedrelation along the longitudinal axis of the razor. The indentation 41located in the clamping member A and with the indentation portion 42just below the neck C.

With this construction the user of the razor may engage the handle inthe usual manner, as shown in FIG. 9, with the thumb 43 engaging therazor adjacent to a protuberance 44 on one side of the handle and withthe forefinger 45 arranged along the other side of the handle.

In FIG. 10 another method of grasping the razor is shown, wherein thethumb 46 engages a side 40 of the razor and the forefinger 47 engagesone of the indentations 41 or 42 depending upon the size of the shavershand. The inside edge of the second finger 48 adjacent its nail engagesthe handle opposite to the thumb 46. In this last described position thefingers are disposed in a position which is anatomically correct forshaving movement and which permits the second finger and the thumb tomove in an are about the axes of their respective joints and whichpermits the forefinger to move about the axes of the first and secondjoints of this second finger.

When engaged in the position of FIG. 10, the razor moves towards andfrom the face under engagement of the thumb and second finger. The firstfinger in this position determines the shaving angle and the shavingpressure and this action remains true for various positions of the razorabout the face.

The shape of the clamping member causes this member to form a strongrigid engagement with the blade. The blade seat swings about an axiscenter which is located approximately at 50 in FIG. 1. This constructionprovides a relatively long springing action for the cam plate 18 and theblade seat.

The degree of the clamping members resilience and its action in clampingthe blade between the lugs 27 and the boss 23 will depend upon thenatural properties of the material from which the razor is made and theparts will be correlated in accordance with the predetermined characterof the material employed and the results desired.

When the injector finger 31, as shown in FIG. 3, is inserted the camlugs 36 and 37 will engage the clamping member to move away from theblade clamping position of FIG. 2 to the position of FIG. 3 where thetip 12 barely misses or lightly touches the blade and wherein the end17" of the seat 17 has moved upwardly as it shifts about its axis 50.This will cause the end 17" of the seat to liftthe blade into engagementwith the portion 15 on the clamping member.

The parts are so arranged that under this condition the blade will belightly held. This light engagement serves to prevent the blade fromaccidentally leaving the razor but does not prevent the removal of theold blade as the new blade moves to its seat.

There is an interval between the time that the blade is freed from tightclamping engagement with the tip 12 and is then lightly engaged by theportion 17" of the blade seat against the planar portion 15. In thisshort interval there is a tendency for the blade to move outwardly withthe blade seat but the blade does not move as far as the seat moves.

The portion 17" slopes downwardly as at 51 towards the left for a shortdistance. This is to allow a fresh blade to be readily inserted from themagazine.

When the new blade is advanced from the blade magazine it will engageand push the old blade from the razor.

When a new blade has been inserted in the razor and the injector key hasbeen withdrawn the tip 12 of the clamping member will push the bladeagainst the seat 17 and at the same time the blade will be engaged bythe lugs 27 and the boss 28 on the plate 10 to correctly position theblade for shaving.

In the modification shown in FIG. 11, parts similar to those previouslydescribed are designated by similarly primed reference characters. Inthe modification the rear end of the blade seat 60 is slotted as at 61to provide a tongue 62, which is somewhat resilient and thus when thefinger of the injector is inserted the part 62 resiliently engages theblade.

Also in FIG. 11, the ribs 64 which are similar to the ribs 17 extendsome distance along the cam plate 18' and the depth of the ribs 64serves to determine the resiliency of the cam plate.

Also in FIG. 11, instead of a single slot for the finger 31' of theinjector I show two slots, one slot portion 30' terminating in ashoulder 65 for engagement with the finger 31 and the other slot portionterminating below the shoulder 65 at 31" to provide for the requiredlength of the cam plate 18 so that a long spring effect will be given tothis canm plate. In FIG. 11 the razor employs an injector finger whichis narrower than the finger employed in the previously described razor.

The operation of the modification of FIG. 11 is similar to that of therazor previously described.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. In a safety razor of the type in which new blades are adapted to befed into the head of the razor from a separable blade-filled magazine, aback plate which is provided at its upper end with a forwardlyprojecting clamping member against the underside of which a blade isadapted to be clamped in shaving position, a movable cam plate in frontof the back plate, which cam plate includes a forwardly projecting bladeseat beneath the clamping member for clamping a blade against theclamping member, said back plate and said cam plate being spaced apartto receive a cam finger in a blade magazine, said cam plate including aplurality of spaced cam faces, said cam faces being stepped in heightand spaced apart and disposed on opposite sides of the longitudinal axisof the razor for simultaneously urging both sides of the cam plateforward without twisting action.

2. A razor comprising a body provided with two complementary members oneof said members including a cam plate with a blade seat thereon and theother member including a back plate with a blade clamping flangethereon, said members being arranged substantially parallel to eachother and being integrally connected together at one end, said bladeseat cam plate being constructed from material so that the other ends ofthe members can be separated to a limited extent, the sides of said camplate converging downwardly from below said blade seat, said blade seathaving spaced lugs thereon for engaging with the forward edge of a bladeon said blade seat and the back plate including a forwardly projectingboss disposed in alignment with said blade seat for directly engagingand urging a blade on the seat forwardly against said lugs, said bladeclamping flange including a tip portion for urging a blade downwardlyagainst the seat, said cam plate being biased to move towards saidclamping plate for clamping a blade between said lugs and said boss,said cam plate on its rear face including a portion adapted to bedirectly engaged and moved by a cam on an operating finger on a blademagazine, said back plate having a shoulder thereon, said shoulder beingadapted to be directly and slidably contacted by a finger on a blademagazine which is operable to separate the members, said members Whenseparated permitting removal of a used blade from, and the insertion ofa new blade on, the blade seat.

3. A razor comprising a body provided with two members, one of saidmembers including a back plate having a blade clamping flange thereon,the other of said members including a blade seat having a depending camplate thereon, said back plate and said cam plate being integrallyconnected at their ends which are remote from the clamping flange andthe blade seat, said back plate and said cam plate being substantiallyparallel and spaced apart to form a slot, said back plate and said camplate converging downwardly to their area of integral connection, saidmembers being constructed from a material so that the ends of themembers which are remote from their area of connection can be separatedto a limited extent, said blade seat having spaced lugs thereon forengaging the forward cutting edge of a blade on the seat, said clampingflange including a clamping tip adapted to urge a blade downwardlyagainst the blade seat, said back plate having a boss thereon adapted todirectly engage the rear edge of a blade for urging the blade againstsaid lugs, said blade seat depending cam plate being biased so that itis normally urged towards the back plate for clamping a blade on theblade seat, said back plate in the area of said slot having a forwardlyfacing shoulder on its inner face, said shoulder being spaced above andremote from the area where the said back plate and said cam plate areintegrally connected, said shoulder being adapted to be engaged by anoperating cam finger on a blade magazine to separate the members, saidmembers when separated permitting removal of a used blade from the bladeseat and the insertion of a new blade onto the blade seat.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS855,608 Ballreich June 4, 1907 927,349 Hamilton July 6, 1909 971,772Millar Oct. 4, 1910 1,048,696 Horton Dec. 31, 1912 1,169,395 Greist etal. Jan. 25, 1916 1,337,435 Brown Apr. 20, 1920 2,033,262 Strauss Mar.10, 1936 2,072,636 Hilliard Mar. 2, 1937 2,221,379 Hilliard et a1 Nov.12, 1940 2,281,926 Ebelhare May 5, 1942 2,281,980 Kuhnl May 5, 19422,288,302 Reyburn et al June 30, 1942 2,306,890 Mayeux Dec. 29, 19422,315,990 Testi Apr. 6, 1943 2,316,600 Kuhnl et al. Apr. 13, 19432,359,327 Muros Oct. 3, 1944 2,661,533 Shnitzler Dec. 8, 1953 2,748,979Szekely June 5, 1956 2,771,673 Nash Nov. 27, 1956 2,911,713 Kuhnl Nov.10, 1959 3,037,664 Kuhnl June 5, 1962 3,061,926 Fjeran Nov. 6, 19623,095,645 Stahl July 2, 1963 FOREIGN PATENTS 632,153 Great Britain Nov.17, 1949

1. IN A SAFETY RAZOR OF THE TYPE IN WHICH NEW BLADES ARE ADAPTED TO BE FED INTO THE HEAD OF THE RAZOR FROM A SEPARABLE BLADE-FILLED MAGAZINE, A BACK PLATE WHICH IS PROVIDED AT ITS UPPER END WITH A FORWARDLY PROJECTING CLAMPING MEMBER AGAINST THE UNDERSIDE OF WHICH A BLADE IS ADAPTED TO BE CLAMPED IN SHAVING POSITION, A MOVABLE CAM PLATE IN FRONT OF THE BACK PLATE, WHICH CAM PLATE INCLUDES A FORWARDLY PROJECTING BLADE SEAT BENEATH THE CLAMPING MEMBER FOR CLAMPING A BLADE AGAINST THE CLAMPING MEMBER, SAID BACK PLATE AND SAID CAM PLATE BEING SPACED APART TO RECEIVE A CAM FINGER IN A BLADE MAGAZINE, SAID CAM PLATE INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF SPACED CAM FACES, SAID CAM FACES BEING STEPPED IN HEIGHT AND SPACED APART AND DISPOSED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE RAZOR FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY URGING BOTH SIDES OF THE CAM PLATE FORWARD WITHOUT TWISTING ACTION. 